Ursula K. LeGuin – The Left Hand of Darkness

Late Night Love Affair, hosted by Sarah Marshall and Candace Opper

This month Candace and Sarah discuss Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness. Topics of conversation include: writing in the margins of library books, Harvey Milk postage stamps, Blade Runner, the benefits of androgyny, business men holding hands, and the makings of good genre writing.

About this Book:

Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness was published in 1969 as part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of books set in LeGuin’s fictional Hainish Universe. That year it won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for the year’s best novel. In a later introduction, LeGuin describes this book as a “thought experiment” that explores a society without gender. It is considered one of the first among the sub-genre of second-wave feminist science fiction, along with Joanna Russ’ The Female Man (1970) and Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time (1976).

ABOUT OUR HOSTS:

Candace Opper and Sarah Marshall met in the MFA creative writing program at Portland State. They share a love of slasher films, George C. Scott, conspiracy theory, Stephen King, VCRs, air-popped popcorn, Jurassic Park, and discussing over coffee their obsessions with suicide and serial killers, respectively.

ABOUT THE MUSIC:

All music for Late Night Love Affair courtesy of the very talented Josh Bleeks, who you won’t find on the internet. Josh lives in Chicago where he writes and records music, and edits audio for Late Night Library.

Late Night Library was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to sustaining book culture, promoting literature in schools and communities, and supporting a diverse array of writers early in their careers. The organization dissolved in June 2017. The website is maintained as a public service.